Where the Sun Meets the Ocean
by LilPurpleMonkey
Summary: She saw him as carefree unfit to be the Avatar. He saw the guilt in her eyes she blamed herself for what happened to her mother.He is her pupil & she is his teacher.While his kids are off on a mission of their own Zuko is on one of his own finding Katara.
1. Chapter 1

**So it has been a very long time since i have updated this story much less logged into fanfiction haha. OMG the Legend of Korra is almost here that's how long its been haha well i have decided to rewrite the story to include aspects from the Legend of Korra but it's still a Zutara pairing because I love them together. So this chapter is a mesh up of chapter one and chapter two with a new twist. I hope you enjoy this new rewrite.**

**I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender.**

**Chapter One: The Avatar's New Teacher**

_Earth. Fire. Air. Water. When I was old enough to understand my mother told me the story of how she and her friends heroically ended the Hundred Years War. Together my father, Fire Lord Zuko, and Avatar Aang promised to return the Nations to harmony. Avatar Aang and Fire Lord Zuko started to transform the Fire Nation colonies into the United Republic of Nations, __a society where benders and non-benders from all over the world, could live and thrive together in peace and harmony. They named the capital of this great land, Republic City. Avatar Aang accomplished remarkable things in his life but all too soon his life came to an end, and he did not live to see the completion of Republic City. The cycle of the Avatar began anew and the Avatar was reborn into the next Nation in the cycle._

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

Rapid pounding on the door startled Kala, she knew who it was, the White Lotus sentries. She opened the door and wasn't surprised by the look of frustration on their faces.

"Where's Arlyn?" she asked.

"Slacking off." Kala sighed, Arlyn wasn't progressing in his training at all. "He's not responding to our training methods and frankly none of our masters are willing to put up with him any longer."

"What does this mean for Arlyn?" Kala asked, she knew that being the mother of the Avatar was going to be difficult but she never imagined that it would be this difficult.

"We're bringing a master from the Southern Water Tribe up here."

"Do you think that will work?" Kala asked skeptically.

"We're hoping, she did train Avatar Aang after all."

_**Southern Water Tribe…**_

Her ocean blue eyes dropped down to the box of unopened letters from her father and brother, her eyes flickered over to the new letter on her bedside table. She picked it up and tossed it into the box along with the others. She returned the box to its spot under her bed.

"Kailee we need to get going." Her grandfather called from the hallway. Her uncle had called a meeting that they all needed to attend, he even excused her from teaching her class. "Sokka said that this meeting was very important."

"I kind of got that." Kailee said with a smile as she joined her grandfather in the hallway.

They walked to the palace silently, their faces twisted into ones of confusion when they saw White Lotus sentries standing in front of the doors to the palace. Kailee looked at her grandfather, he didn't look like her kind grandfather he looked like the warrior and chief he had been.

"Excuse me but what is going on here?" Hakoda asked.

"Chief Hakoda now that you and the princess are here we can get started." The two sentries led the way into the palace as if Kailee and Hakoda were visiting the palace for the first time.

They followed the sentries to the war room. Hakoda took a seat beside Sokka raising his eyebrows as he made his way over. Kailee took her seat beside her cousin Judai. The sentries took their seats opposite Sokka and Hakoda.

"You all know that the training of the Avatar was left to us by the request of Avatar Aang." The older of the sentries said. They all nodded not knowing where this was going. "Well the masters in charge of teaching the Avatar have not had any luck with advancing in his training. He has yet to master waterbending and we are afraid that at the rate he is going he won't master the four elements anytime soon."

"How is the Avatar supposed to master the four elements if there is no one to teach him airbending?" Kailee asked unable to control her curiosity. The sentries gave her a look that made her regret asking. She mumbled, "Sorry."

"We have that taken care off Miss Kailee." The younger of the two sentries said in a clipped tone.

"It's Master Kailee or Princess Kailee." Kailee mumbled quietly so only Judai could hear her.

"We came here with the hope of getting Master Katara to agree to travel to the North Pole and train the Avatar." The older sentry said.

Kailee broke her intense glaring contest with the younger sentry at the mention of her mother, she dropped her gaze to her feet. The war room grew uncomfortably quiet and the sentries had no idea why the royal family of the Southern Tribe had nothing to say about one of their members. Hakoda and Sokka exchanged looks before nodding.

"About a year ago we were raided by members of the rebellion and we lost several of our masters one of them being Katara." Hakoda said sadly.

Kailee raised her head and scowled at the face of sympathy the younger sentry was giving her, she hated it when people felt sorry for her, her mother wasn't dead she was just in the hands of the rebellion. He flinched at her scowl and then shot her a scowl of his own.

"Are there any masters you recommend?" he asked Hakoda and Sokka.

"We can take you down to the academy and you can see them for yourselves." Sokka said his eyes flashing slightly toward Kailee.

"Hiro follow Chief Sokka to the academy, I need to speak to Hakoda." The older sentry said.

Kailee stood up with Sokka and Hiro. Hakoda's head snapped in Kailee's direction, he wasn't sure that Kailee was emotionally ready to do something that reminded her of her mother. "Where are you going missy?"

"I'm going to the academy." Kailee said in a 'duh' tone.

"We need a master." Hiro snapped.

"I am a master." Kailee snapped back.

"You're like twelve." Hiro said his light blue eyes narrowing.

Kailee walked up to Hiro and poked at his chest as she said, "I'm fifteen and I can pin you with my eyes closed."

"She's just like Katara and Zuko." Hakoda sighed. He looked at the older sentry who nodded. "Alright you can go."

oOo

Kailee dropped down into the chair beside her grandfather, her Aunt Suki had invited them over for dinner. Kya and Yue were staring at Kailee waiting for her to tell them what happened at the academy. Kailee flashed her cousins a satisfied smile, she was tired after spending the entire day sparring against every master in the South Pole and couldn't wait to tell them how she swept the floor with everyone.

"So what did Hiro think of you?" Hakoda asked after Suki had served them all dinner. "That boy isn't impressed easily."

"He had a scowl on his face during the whole thing but I have a feeling that it's a permanent feature on his face." Kailee said.

"So are you going to train the Avatar?" Judai asked before stuffing his face.

"Toku and Hiro have varying opinions. Toku thinks that young masters like you, Ryuu, and Misaki should train the Avatar. Hiro thinks that elder masters should train the Avatar." Hakoda said taking a sip of his drink.

"Hiro is very stuffy for a twenty-seven year old." Sokka said. "Tell them niece, what stuffy old Hiro said to you."

"He said that I have the honor of training Avatar Arlyn in waterbending." Kailee said with a smile. "He wished me luck."

"When are we leaving for the North Pole?" Judai asked excitedly.

"You're not going anywhere." Kailee and Suki said together. Judai pointed to his father and grandfather putting them on the spot when they weren't ready to face Kailee and Suki. "What did you two decide without talking about it with us?"

"Judai is going with Kailee to the North Pole, he's going to take care of Kai." Hakoda said firmly.

"Grandfather I can take care of myself." Kailee whined uncharacteristically.

"Judai will accompany you or you will not go." Hakoda said firmly.

"You're not my father." Kailee said.

"I may not be your father but you are under my care so I decide what's best for you." Hakoda said. "You will go to the North Pole with your cousin but before you go you will go to the Fire Nation and see your father."

oOo

The ten or so waterbenders stood in silence, not knowing what to do without their teacher. A couple of them sat in the snow while others began to pace around the arena. Most of them thought about leaving but it was only a thought. All of the other classes had already started and their class usually started before the appointed time.

"What in La's name are you all doing just standing around like that?" Kailee asked as she ran into the arena.

"Why in Tui's name were you late?" Kailee froze at the sound of Pakku's voice, she hadn't seen him sitting in the stands. Slowly she turned her body to where his voice had come from. "Explain later, teach now."

She nodded and waited for him to exit the arena before turning to her class. She offered them a tentative smile before pulling her parka over her head and tossing it aside. She pulled her long wavy black hair up into a ponytail and pulled her hair loops back so they weren't in her face.

"Alright start warming up," she said. The class scrambled knowing that they were being punished. "You don't need me to warm up, you're not going to get far in your training if you don't show some initiative. You all say you want to be masters but I don't see it, you need your own motivation."

Kailee felt like she had given this lecture many times before, which she had. Every time her class complained about how hard she worked them she'd revert back to this lecture, which in all honesty she believed in. After all she was only fourteen and she was considered a master class bender, her grandfather often said that she was skilled to the level of an Avatar raised in the Water Tribe. Both her mother and father had told her and Ryuu that if you want to achieve something then you have to put forth all of your effort because no one was going to hand you what you want on a silver platter.

Her ocean blue eyes narrowed on a boy at the far end of the arena, his stance was wrong. She walked over to him and folded her arms across her chest when she saw who it was. He looked up at her and smiled a smile that promised trouble.

"You seriously look like you want to gut me right now, Master." he said, amusement evident in his ocean blue eyes. "Your angry face is really frightening."

"Remember next time you decide to mess with me, Arden." she froze him to the ground and circled him. "I could correct your stance or I could make you practice like this, what do you have to say?"

"I say you let me go and laugh, I'm obviously one of the better students in this class." he said running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"Which is why your stance is unacceptable, stay like that for a while." she said. She began to walk away when he called her name. "Yes."

"Everyone can tell you're different." she raised her eyebrows, they've had this conversation before only now it seemed serious. "I'm not talking about how you changed after the raid. You're different from us, from the tribe, your skin is lighter then ours, you have black hair, and there are gold flakes in your eyes."

"When we stand side by side we are different, when we stand facing each other we are the same, I just have the upper hand. Now shut your trap and fix your stance." she released him from her hold. "You and Yuki will demonstrate for the class your progress."

She ushered the rest of the class up into the front row of the stands. Yuki and Arden both pulled their parkas off handing them to her before walking over to their side of the arena. Kailee picked up her parka on her way up to join the class.

"Your objective is to pin your opponent down three times. All you have for a weapon is your bending and what you have learned." she said down to the two of them who nodded. She turned to the rest of the class. "Your assignment is to find flaws in their performance, evaluate them because you will be the ones grading them as they will when it is your turn."

"This wasn't what you had planned today," Kailee turned around, standing at the top of the stands was Sho, the young master who would be taking over her class when she left. He descended the stairs and took a seat next to her. "If I'm not mistaken, you had planned a field trip, what happened to that plan?"

"Arden showed that they weren't deserving of a field trip," she said turning back to the arena where the two students were waiting for the go ahead. "Begin."

"One student talked you out of your plans." Sho said shaking his head.

"All of them kind of did, they weren't showing me that they were serious about this. So I cancelled the field trip and decided to spend my last few days watching how they preform." she said keeping a close eye on Yuki, who she knew had Arden beat from the moment she paired them together.

"His stance is spot on." Sho muttered, he glanced over to Yuki who had successfully shielded herself behind the Octopus. "Hers is better."

"I can see the flaws in both, as I'm sure you can."

"Yes I see where they need improvement. Princess, what level class is this?"

"Intermediate, it really doesn't feel like it sometimes. Don't call me, princess," she said playfully smacking his shoulder. He stuck his tongue at her, for a twenty year old he was as mature as Judai. "Seriously I don't like it."

"That's what you are though." he said.

"Not here."

"That little detail doesn't matter, Kai, you're royalty regardless of where you are."

"Whatever."

oOo

Kailee exited Pakku's office with a deep frown on her face, just because she's his family doesn't mean he could treat her specially, his words exactly. She explained about the field trip to the beachside cliff where the penguins lived and how to celebrate her last day they were going to go penguin sledding like she and Judai had done the weekend before. He scoffed and sentenced her to the healing huts for a lesson, he knew she was no good at healing. It wasn't that she didn't know how to heal she just preferred to fight, something that Pakku said she got from her mother.

As she exited the school building she found Arden sitting at the bottom of the stairs. He looked up when the doors closed, his eyes were full of something Kailee couldn't identify. She sat beside him and stared out at the city, she loved the way the buildings were all different heights, the bridges and how they each had the seal of the tribe, and she loved the twists and turns of the canals.

"Do you know what I love about this place?" she asked.

"No, what?"

"The way the buildings look when the sun rises and sets. The way they seem to shine." she said. She turned to look at him. "So what is it that you need to say to me?"

"I was way out of line earlier," he said looking straight into her eyes. "And I would like to apologize for what I said."

"There's no need to apologize because what you said is true, I am different. My father is the Fire Lord and my mother was a Southern Water Tribe Princess, my brother and I are children of two nations but we're still just people of the world," she said looking up at the darkening sky. "My mother and I moved here strictly so I could learn waterbending, that was when I was ten. I didn't mind being here because I had her but now that she's not here I don't have anyone. Sure I have family but they're not the same as my dad and brother."

"You're leaving." It was a statement not a question. She nodded and it was his turn to look up at the sky. "When you were ten and I was eleven, you were already in the master class and I was starting warrior training. When I was fourteen and you were thirteen, I was a beginner and you were teaching the class ahead of mine. I always knew you were half-and-half and that made me mad, you who weren't fully a member of the Water Tribe were so much better then those of us who were."

"When did you get over that, because now we're such great friends?" she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"The day of the raid when I saw you do everything you could to defend the tribe," he said. "That day I was a warrior not a bender, I've always been a better warrior then bender, but that day I saw what it meant to be a true bender."

"I see, well you've come far since then and I'm glad that I get to be the one to pass you on to the advanced level of training." she said standing up. "You're a bit rough around the edges but the dedication and determination is there, I just hope my new pupil will be the same."

"Do you really mean that after I lost to Yuki?" he said standing up and walking beside her.

"Yeah, Arden it's not always about winning or losing. It's about how you perform in the game and you performed well above what I expected. Now if you excuse me I have to make my way over to the healing huts for a lesson," she groaned. "We're going penguin sledding tomorrow, don't tell anyone."

"I won't." he said watching her as she entered on of the huts there was something about the Fire Nation Princess that he was attracted too but he couldn't bring himself to confess his attraction to her.

oOo

Kailee was sad as she walked back to her grandfather's house, her last day with her class had been more emotional than she thought it would have been. She was a bit nervous about going home to see her father, she knew he blamed her for losing her mother, but at the same time she couldn't wait to go home, it had been a long time since she'd seen her family or stepped foot on a Fire Nation beach.

_**Fire Nation**_

Zuko and Ursa watched as Ryuu and Ayumu sparred. Ayumu had come far in his training, his nephew had finally decided to train as a firebender only a couple years ago. Ayumu's biggest fear was that he'd wind up as crazy and power hungry as his mother and father, he had been six years old when Aang died and prior to Aang's death Ayumu asked if Aang could remove his bending. Both Zuko and Aang convinced him that he wasn't anything like his parents. It took Zuko and Iroh fourteen years to convince Ayumu to start training.

"He's really come a long way for only starting his training two years ago." Ursa said as she watched her two grandsons throw fire at each other. "Has Kai replied to your letter?"

"She hasn't replied to a single one of my letters in over a year, I don't know why I keep sending them." Zuko said shaking his head. He looked over at his son and nephew. "Alright your training for today is done, you may go."

"You write the letters because you love your daughter and are worried about her." Ursa said putting a hand on Zuko's shoulder. "You should have just brought her home after Katara was captured."

"She would have just been miserable all day here, at least in the South Pole she has something to take her mind off of Katara." Zuko said. He hadn't told his son that his sister was coming home for a couple of days but he couldn't keep it from his mother. "Kailee and Judai will be here in a couple of days."

**To be continued…**

**So I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review I really want your feedback.**

**So here's a list of characters in this chapter and who they are.**

**Kailee "Kai"- Princess of the Fire Nation, Zuko and Katara's daughter, she's a waterbender, 15 years old.**

**Ryuu- Prince of the Fire Nation, Zuko and Katara's son, he's a firebender, 16 years old.**

**Judai "Jude"- Sokka and Suki's son, Prince of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 17 years old.**

**Kya- Sokka and Suki's daughter, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 12 years old.**

**Yue- Sokka and Suki's daughter, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, a nonbender, 7 years old.**

**Ayumu- Zuko's nephew, Captain in the Fire Nation Navy, 22 years old.**

**Arden- Southern Water Tribe warrior, a waterbender, 16 years old.**

**Arlyn- The Avatar from the Northern Water Tribe, 17 years old.**

**Please review (:**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey there readers here's chapter two I hope you enjoy.**_

_**i don't own ATLA.**_

_**Chapter Two: Things We don't Want to Do**_

_**Fire Nation…**_

His gold eyes focused on the ship coming into the harbor, his sister and cousin would arrive within minutes. In a very improper manner he dropped down onto the sand and stared at the ocean, he could feel the guards eyes on him. He disliked the fact that he had to travel with the guards being a master Firebender, but he saw where is father was coming from, with the Rebel forces getting stronger. His eyes flickered up to the sky, something emerged from behind the puffy white clouds.

"General Lee, do you see that?" Ryuu asked getting to his feet and pulling his swords out in one swift motion. He turned to the guards and pointed with his sword to the thing in the sky.

"It looks like a giant flying buffalo." General Lee said. Ryuu raised one of his brown eyebrows at the general. "A bison maybe."

"Aren't they extinct?"

"It is just what it looks like, my Prince." Ryuu put his swords away and undid his topknot letting his brown hair fall into his gold eyes like he liked it. "Do we attack?"

He shook his head and dismissed them, they were reluctant to go but once he assured them that he'd be fine they left down the beach. The ship was getting closer while the flying bison disappeared behind the clouds. Slowly he made himself to the end of the dock and waited.

oOo

Kailee could see a figure standing alone on the dock, a smile spread across her face, she knew who was standing there. She turned to Judai who was sitting on the floor of the deck eating seal jerky.

"Hey Jude, do you think I can beat Ryuu?" Kailee asked turning back to her brother.

"You guys are both masters so it'll be interesting but it's been years since you've beat him right?" Judai asked putting the seal jerky back in its pouch and in his bag. He watched as Kailee pulled her hair up into a ponytail, her style of choice when she went into a fight. "What are you doing?" he asked scrambling to the front.

"I'm only one behind him." She said giving him a look one that he hadn't seen in the longest time, the look of excitement. Before he could stop her she was climbing the ships railing. He knew what was coming, a sparring session between the prince and princess of the Fire Nation, two masters going head to head...for fun. He groaned and stood up off of the floor. She smiled at him just as she stood up on the railing and executed a perfect dive, he walked to the front of the ship and waited for the show to start.

oOo

Ryuu dropped his swords and smiled to himself, he bowed to the ocean, turned around, and walked down the dock. He couldn't remember the last time they merely greeted each other, for the longest time their method of greeting was a display of their bending. The sun was at his high point but they were surrounded by an infinite source of water, that didn't matter all that mattered was their skill level. At the end of the dock he turned around and surly enough standing in front of his swords, clad in blue was his sister.

"Are you going to beat me this time?" Ryuu asked offering her a small smirk.

"I promise you that I won't make it easy on you, older brother." Kailee said hurling seawater at him.

oOo

Judai watched as blue clashed with red, sticking whale jerky into his mouth as he did. He noticed that Ryuu's tactic changed, he was using the terrain, jumping and flipping off of rocks. Judai had seen his aunt and uncle spar once before and looking at his two cousins reminded him of that.

"My money's on Kai." he told the crew members who grunted. "What you believe Ryuu has the advantage, water beats fire every time." His eyes widened as Ryuu melted the ice disks Kailee was sending at him. "Fire melts ice...every time."

oOo

Kailee enclosed her brother in a ball of ice, he lowered his head admitting defeat. She skipped up to her brother. "Now we're even." she released him and bended the water out of his clothes.

"It won't be that way for long." he said pulling her into a hug. "Now there's Judai."

They walked to the end of the dock. Ryuu picked up his swords. "How good are you with those?"

"Not bad, why do you ask?" he asked raising his eyebrows at her. "Want to go against me?"

"You'll beat me, I never made a good swordsman." Kailee said remembering the time she went to warrior training with Judai.

"Hey there cousin, how goes it?" Judai asked as he walked off of the ship. His eyes flickered to the swords strapped to Ryuu's back. "Dao Swords, you and I will have to go against each other."

Ryuu nodded, "Are you a master swordsman like your dad?"

"Yup, I've even beaten my dad a couple of times." Judai said proudly.

"Alright well we'll have to go at it later tonight." Ryuu said extending his hand toward Judai, they shook hands making it official. "Dad and Uncle will be back from Republic City later tonight but grandma and Ayumu are here and excited to see you guys."

"Dad..." Kailee said as she twisted her hair nervously.

"You do know he doesn't blame you right?" Ryuu said. "You'd know that if you read our letters, which you didn't since we never got a single one from you."

"Ryuu…" Kailee said softly.

"It's alright Kai." Ryuu said throwing an arm around her shoulder.

Ryuu talked about anything and everything that had gone on in the past year, he was repeating the things he wrote about in his letters, as they walked up to the city. Kailee listened and felt horrible for never answering his letters. He asked her questions, which she answered trying to make her life the past year not sound like it was all bad. Judai helped Kailee by telling stories of their ice fishing trips and of penguin sledding. Ryuu told of sword training and trips to Ember Island with Ursa and how the plays were beyond horrible.

"Why are dad and Uncle in Republic City?" Kailee asked.

"They're dealing with members of the rebellion." Ryuu said. "The ideals of the rebellion are extending to not just hostility against the fire nation but to all benders in general. The Avatar is going to have some hard stuff to deal with."

"Yeah he's going to have to deal with her." Judai said with a laugh. "She's not the easiest teacher out there."

"Shouldn't the Avatar already know waterbending?" Ryuu asked raising his eyebrows.

"He should but doesn't because he's lazy." Kailee said repeating Hiro's words to her.

oOo

After taking a walk through the city they finally made it to the palace. They walked into the sitting room that overlooked Ursa's well-kept garden. Sitting in one of the plush red chairs was Ursa. Ayumu was leaning against one of the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out at the pond where the turtleducks were swimming. Ayumu smiled when he caught Kailee, Judai, and Ryuu's reflections in the window.

"Grandmother we have company." Ayumu said.

Ursa set her cup of tea down on the coffee table and turned around to see who walked in. She smiled at the sight of her granddaughter and Judai. She stood up and enveloped Kailee in a hug. "It's so good to see you sweetheart."

"Its good to see you too grandma." Kailee said with a smile.

"You guys are here in time for tea." Ayumu said walking away from the window and taking a seat on the couch.

"Honestly Ayumu you are a twenty-two years old, I'd think you'd have learned some manners. Get your feet off of the couch." Ursa said pouring three more cups of tea.

"Yes grandmother." Ayumu said taking his feet off of the couch. "So Kai, Jude how's the South Pole, you know beside cold and snowy?"

"It's nice, really quiet compared to Ba Sing Se, Republic City, and Capitol City. There's not much to do if you're not creative." Judai answered taking his cup. "There's a lot of focus on warrior training and bender training."

oOo

_The streets of the Fire Nation capital were lined with people eagerly waiting for the parade to start. Katara watched as Ryuu and Kailee conversed with the kids, she saw Ryuu's hands clench and immediately took him by the ear. She took Kailee's hand and led the two of them to a different spot on the street. She sat Kailee down before turning to her son, as she stared into Ryuu's amber colored eyes she couldn't help but be reminded of Zuko._

_"What did they say to you?" she sighed._

_"Nothing." replied the five year old. He didn't look at her when he spoke, she knelt down and tilted his head up so he was looking at her. "They called us weird because we look different."_

_"Ryuu, you and your sister are different." Katara said, the frown on his face deepened and she smiled tenderly at him. "You're a blend of two different cultures, you belong not to one nation but to two. I think that's pretty cool."_

_"But you're our mom, you're supposed to think we're cool." Ryuu said._

_"Ryuu, people are going to be mean to you but you can't let what they do hurt you and you can't hurt them." Katara said firmly. She gave up on trying to explain how being different was good in their case, he was much to young to understand, she'd try again when he was older._

_"Mommy, look the parade is starting." Kailee said pointing to the soldiers who were carrying the Fire Nation flag. She stood up and the three of them joined the rest of the people in reciting the Fire Nation anthem._

_"I hear that the Fire Lady and the kids aren't in the parade this year," someone next to them said drawing Katara's attention away from the fire dancers._

_"I don't know if you could really call her the Fire Lady," someone else said. "Lady Katara is a master waterbender, a peasant from the Water Tribe."_

_"She's not worthy of being the Fire Lady."_

_"No she's not."_

_"Look momma there's..." Kailee started pointing to Zuko._

_"Yes there's the Fire Lord." Katara interrupted, the men behind them weren't giving off a good vibe. She had a feeling that they were members of the Rebellion, but she couldn't do anything about them without risking the safety of her kids._

_"What did I tell you, he's alone?"_

_"The two brats must be in the palace."_

_"No, they're out here somewhere. Those kids shouldn't be alive and that woman shouldn't be here."_

_That was Katara's cue to leave, she'd have to find some guards to either handle the situation or to take Ryuu and Kailee back to the palace. As much as she wanted to beat the men up she didn't want to leave her kids alone with anyone, even the guards. The only people she really trusted with her kids were her family and since none of them were around she'd have to let the guards handle the situation._

_"Kids get up we're leaving." Katara said getting to her feet._

_"But mom," the two of them started._

_"No whining we're leaving." she said pulling Ryuu to his feet._

_Kailee was a little bit more difficult so she picked her up and took Ryuu's small hand in hers firmly. Ryuu blended in well so no one would suspect he was indeed the Fire Nation prince, Kailee on the other had had bright blue eyes, a color not commonly seen in Fire Nation children. She had to get them back to the safety of the palace. She expertly weaved her way through the crowd and literally bumped into Iroh, Ursa, and Ayumu._

_"Katara?" Iroh said. He saw the look of worry in Katara's blue eyes and turned to Ursa. "Ursa would be so kind as to take the kids back to the palace."_

_Ursa nodded and Katara handed Ryuu and Kailee over to their grandmother. She watched them go before turning to the former general._

_"Members of the Rebellion are here," she said in a hushed tone leading him back to where they had been watching the parade._

_oOo_

_The kids sat down in the grass looking up at the sky, they were waiting for the firework display. Despite their happy faces Ursa knew that they were disappointed. They had wanted to watch the display from the beach just like everybody else but now they were sitting in the gardens of the Fire Nation palace._

_"Lady Ursa, you called for me." she looked up to see General Lee of the imperial guard coming their way._

_"Yes. General I would like you to inform my son that the plans for the evening have changed." Ursa said._

_"Yes My Lady." he said._

_oOo_

_Zuko was confused when General Lee had come to get him, he was supposed to signal the fireworks from the beach and then he'd join his family. He walked into the gardens and was immediately tackled by Ryuu and Kailee._

_"Daddy can we see the fireworks from the beach?" Kailee asked._

_"Yeah daddy, they don't look the same from far away." Ryuu added._

_"No, there are bad people out there." Katara said as she walked into the gardens Iroh right behind her. "Zuko, Uncle needs to talk to you."_

_Katara pulled both kids off of Zuko and took them to the stone bench where Ayumu was sitting with Ursa. Katara told Ursa to go with Zuko and Iroh. Zuko followed his uncle into the palace, his mother right behind them. When the three of them were inside the doors closed Iroh turned to them._

_"The imperial guards are searching for men that Katara suspects are members of the Rebellion. We went back to the spot where Katara had last seen them and they were gone." Iroh said a solemn look on his face._

_"What reason is there to believe that we are dealing with members of the Rebellion, Iroh?" Ursa asked._

_"They said that Kailee and Ryuu should not be alive. All members of the Rebellion dislike the blending of the nations, they want to keep the world pure." Iroh said. _

_The sound of a gong startled them all, the Fire Lord let out a small groan when he realized what it was for. "I have to start the fireworks."_

_"Do not worry about this matter, I will handle it." Iroh said putting a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "You two go enjoy the show."_

_Zuko and Ursa nodded and walked back out to the gardens where Ryuu and Ayumu were displaying their bending. They stopped and gave a small bow, Zuko and Ursa applauded earning their attention._

_"Ready for the show to start?" Zuko asked the kids who nodded eagerly. He smiled at Katara before lighting the night sky orange, it had taken him a while to bend his fire into the shape of a dragon but one he perfected it, it became a part of the festival._

_He sat down on the grass pulling Kailee onto his lap and kissing the top of her head. Katara sat down next to him and gently placed her had over his._

Zuko stood up and walked out onto the main deck, he had been sitting at his desk for hours and had decided that after hours of being cooped up in his study he needed some fresh air. He had spent that time thinking of the early beginnings of the Rebellion, how the Rebellion started because of the dislike of the new peace between the nations. Now after his visit to Republic City he could see that the Rebellion now included the hatred of benders all together. They were in need of the Avatar again, and once again the Avatar was a kid who hasn't mastered the four elements.

"Padme and the boys are doing well." Iroh said startling Zuko.

"Yes they are and so is Air Temple Island. Aang wanted to bring back Airnomad culture and traditions and the only downside is that he isn't here to see it. He didn't get to see how well Takumi and Daichi turned out." Zuko said, it saddened him thinking about how much his friend was missing. He had honored Aang's wish and kept his family a secret from everybody except the Order of the White Lotus. "Toph is also doing well."

"Yes she and Haru have done a good job running the Metalbending Academy. Toph told me over tea that Misaki and Hikaru are now teaching at the academy." Iroh said.

"Yes Toph and Keichi must be really proud of Misaki, Haru and Ayano must also be so proud of Hikaru." Zuko said, he knew that they were proud that their children were finally masters of their element because it was how he felt when Ryuu and Kailee became master benders and when Ayumu became a master swordsman. "How much longer until we dock, I really want to see my kids."

"About another hour." Iroh answered.

"Is there anyway to make this hunk of metal go any faster." Zuko groaned.

"Patience Nephew, I told you we should have taken the airship but you insisted on taking a ship." Iroh said walking toward the door. "Come Nephew lets pass the time with a nice game of Pai Sho and a cup of tea."

"Yes Uncle." Zuko said with a laugh.

"So Pro-bending is becoming really popular." Iroh said.

"Frankly I don't understand it."

"Its for a younger crowd."

"I'm not that old."

oOo

She could have gone home after her escape from the Rebellion, but Katara had something she needed to do. She loved her children and her husband, but she couldn't see them without first getting the answers she needed. Before she could go home she needed to find out the cause behind Aang's sudden death. The more she thought about it and everything Aang had prepared in case of his absence from the world the more she thought that his death had been no accident.

"What happened to you Aang?" she said as she walked through the Western Air Temple that, along with the others, had been reconstructed by Aang.

oOo

"I'm afraid of going crazy." Ayumu said to Kailee as they walked through the gardens. "My mother is insane and my father's a psychopath, they're both serving life sentences in prison. I wouldn't even be here if Uncle hadn't stopped the prison guards from performing the abortion, don't get me wrong I'm grateful for everything Uncle Zuko and Aunt Katara did for me and everything Grandmother and Uncle Iroh are doing for me now but I can't help but worry that I might go crazy like them."

"Crazy isn't a disease you can inherit." Kailee said trying to comfort her cousin.

"Yes it is, you need to pay more attention to those healing lessons Pakku punishes you with." Ayumu said laughing at Kailee's face of disgust. "It's why I hold back when it comes to firebending."

"You're nothing like your parents, you're good and sane." Kailee said.

"She's right, you're nothing like your parents and you won't ever be. Now stop thinking like that and go talk to Uncle he has some stories he wants to share with you." The two of them turned around to find Zuko standing underneath a tree. A smile broke across Kailee's face and before she could feel any hint of nervousness she ran to her father and threw her arms around him. "It's good to see you too Princess."

"I missed you daddy, I'm sorry I ignored your letters." She mumbled into his neck.

"I missed you too Princess." Zuko said kissing the top of Kailee's head.

oOo

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

"Hey there Mika I was wondering if you'd like to go out tomorrow night." Arlyn asked the Princess.

"I'd love to go out with you." Mika said with a blush.

"I'm sorry Mika but the Avatar will not be going anywhere tomorrow." Hiro said grabbing the back of Arlyn's parka. "He has a lot of basic training to master before his teachers get here."

"Oh well maybe some other time." Mika said with a sad smile. "I have to go father won't like it if I am late for dinner."

Arlyn watched Mika walk into the palace, he made sure she was out of earshot before turning around and cursing Hiro out. He hated the White Lotus sentries they were always telling him what to do and how to do it, he hated everything about being the Avatar, it's not what he wanted to be.

"You guys are always up in my business, can't you just leave me alone. There's peace between the nations the world doesn't need the Avatar." Arlyn groaned starting in the direction of his home.

"It's only been twenty-four years since the war Arlyn and people don't forget a hundred years of war in twenty-four years. Rebellion is brewing and if we don't do anything now we might have ourselves another war." Hiro said, he really hated watching over Arlyn.

"Yeah well I don't want any part of it, I want to be normal and have fun. I want to meet girls, go on dates, party until dawn, and live my own way." Arlyn said freezing Hiro's feet so he wouldn't follow him home.

"You actually know how do something with your bending." Hiro said unfreezing himself. "Did you forget I'm a master waterbender? You're never going to be normal Arlyn, you're the Avatar your duty is to the world."

"Spare me the lecture Hiro."

"You're going to complete your training in Republic City." Hiro said angrily.

"What?"

"Your teachers and yourself are being relocated to Republic City."

"Why?"

"So you can see why the world needs you."

"No."

"You have no choice."

"I can disappear for a hundred years like Avatar Aang did." Arlyn said defiantly.

"You don't have the necessary skills to survive the way Avatar Aang did, you haven't even mastered your natural element. You're a disgrace to the Water Tribe and to the world." Hiro said angrily. "You're a spoiled brat who doesn't deserve to be the Avatar, you know nothing about being selfless or how life really works. I hope that your new teachers can pound something into you and if not I hope they just pound you."

"I don't want to be the Avatar!"

"We all have to do things we don't want to do Arlyn it's part of life so deal with it!"

**To be continued…**

**So please review I would love feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello readers this chapter is shorter then the last two since those set up the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**I don't own ATLA.**

**Chapter 3 Meeting the Pupil/Meeting the Masters**

"Maybe this summer we can all go to Ember Island and see a play." Ursa said as they had breakfast.

"Mother they always butcher Love Amongst the Dragons." Zuko grumbled.

"They do grandmother." Ryuu said. "Pass me the marmalade Kai."

Kailee passed Ryuu the marmalade, "So you had something to tell us dad."

"Yes while Uncle and I were in Republic City we met with the Order of the White Lotus. Together we came to the agreement that you, Ryuu, and the Avatar will be relocated to Republic City where the Avatar will complete his training." Zuko said.

"Why am I going?" Ryuu asked.

"You're teaching the Avatar firebending." Zuko said.

Ryuu's eyes widened in surprise, "Why me not that I mind but aren't there other masters to train him?"

"He doesn't respond to adult masters so the Order thought that he'd respond to masters closer to his own age. You're going to live in our summer home as opposed to the compound but White Lotus sentries will look you after." Zuko said. A small smile broke across his face, "Who better to teach the Avatar the elements then the children of Avatar Aang's teachers."

oOo

Kailee stared out at the ocean, she stuck her hand over the railing and aimlessly played with the seawater. Behind her Ryuu and Judai were sparring, she could hear the sound of their swords clashing against each other over the roar of the ocean. They were only a couple of days away from the North Pole and she was thinking about the best way to deal with a problem student and about her mother. Her father had assured her that he didn't blame her but he wasn't there the day of the raid, he also assured her that she'd be a great teacher to the Avatar.

"You're making a whirlpool." Ryuu said to his sister. He and Judai had finished their sparring session about ten minutes ago, Judai had gone inside to check on dinner while Ryuu watched over Kailee. The two of them were really starting to worry about her, she had been quiet and reserved since they left the Fire Nation. "What's eating at you?"

"I'm going to go put on my parka the temperature is dropping now that we're getting closer." She said walking away before Ryuu could say anything.

She walked into her room and dug her dark blue parka out of her bag. She pulled it on over her dark red long sleeve, it fell a couple of inches below the waistband of her black pants. She walked out of her room and back up to the deck, Ryuu was leaning against the railing looking up at the darkening sky.

"You don't have to keep your feelings hidden from me." Ryuu said turning around to face her.

"I know." Kailee said walking up to stand next to him. "Dad said he's doing everything to find mom but I feel like after a year in captivity the chances of mom still being alive are slim." Kailee said finally voicing what has been haunting her for months.

"Kai mom's a master waterbender she's probably found a way to escape from the rebels by now." Ryuu said throwing an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close to him.

"If she has why hasn't she come back to us?" Kailee asked not wanting to think that her mom would escape and not come back to them. She knew her mother loved them more than anything. "Are you ready to wear your parka for a few weeks?"

"Can't wait, it's been a while since I played in the snow." Ryuu said.

"Don't you worry we'll make sure you have tons of fun in the snow." Kailee said bumping his hip with hers.

"Lets go penguin sledding." He said bumping her hip back. "You know like we used to do when we were kids and went to the South Pole to visit grandpa and uncle Sokka."

"Jude will love that and so would I." Kailee said with a laugh.

"Guys dinner's ready." Judai said.

oOo

Arlyn sat on top of a rather flat iceberg looking out at the ocean, his ice blue eyes were narrowed on the approaching ship. He would be meeting his new teachers in a matter of hours, he wasn't nervous because they'd quit eventually. No one stuck around him long enough for him to actually learn something, it's not that he had no talent for bending he just preferred to use it for fun rather than saving the world.

"Why can't the people of world solve their own problems?" he asked waving his hand to create a small wave.

He turned around and his face fell at the sight of Hiro and Toku standing on top of the wall looking out in his direction. He stood up and dived into the water, he swam back toward the city. He bent a hole into the wall and swam back inside the city that he not only called home but a prison. He despised the lack of freedom that came with being the Avatar, he wasn't allowed too far out of the city and even if he went out the sentries always watched him. He pulled himself up out of the canal and bent the water out of his clothes.

"You only use your bending to sneak out." Hiro said. Arlyn groaned Hiro was the sentry that he couldn't stand at all, if he chose to master the elements Hiro would be the first master he'd kick off his high ostrich-horse.

"I needed time to think without you guys breathing down my neck." Arlyn said getting up in his face.

"Think about what finally accepting that your duty is to the world?" Hiro asked.

"About how I'm going to kick your ass when I master the four elements." Arlyn said shoving past him.

"Be at the palace for dinner." Toku called after him.

"Whatever." Arlyn said giving them a two-fingered wave goodbye.

"Did you hear how he talked to me?" Hiro asked Toku.

"Yes and do you know what else I heard?" Toku asked as they walked toward the palace where they were going to greet Prince Judai, Princess Kailee, and Prince Ryuu. Hiro shook his head. "For the first time since we discovered that Arlyn is the Avatar I heard interest. Even if that interest was only brought about by wanting to kick you off of your high ostrich-horse, its more interest than I've heard in years."

oOo

"Mother I'm sure that whatever you wear to dinner will be fine." Arlyn said as he walked into his mother's room to tell her that he was back.

"We're dining at the palace today, that doesn't happen everyday." Kala said.

"Mother you're beautiful in anything." Arlyn said giving his mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you sweetie, now go get ready for dinner." Kala said shooing him out of her room.

He changed out of his clothes not because he wanted to look good for dinner but because they smelled like seawater. He put on a pair of dark blue pants, a black shirt, a clean blue parka, and his boots. He heard the door open and knew his father was back, he heard him greet his mother and then the two of them began to talk about him. He knew he was disappointing them but they didn't understand what it meant to be the Avatar, the sacrifices he'd have to make.

"Come on son we're leaving." His father said.

Arlyn and his parents walked to the palace silently, they didn't feel like talking about how much they wanted these teachers to be the ones who's be able to teach him. His parents greeted Hiro and Toku as if they were family friends not the people who kept their son imprisoned in the North Pole. They then bowed to the Chief who was standing beside three kids around his age that he has never seen before. A girl and two boys, there was a familial resemblance between the three of them but he could tell that the girl and the boy with gold eyes weren't completely of the Water Tribe.

"Avatar Arlyn meet Master Kailee and Master Ryuu. They'll be teaching you waterbending and firebending." Toku said.

"She's like twelve." Arlyn said looking at the girl. He only said that because he didn't know what else to say about the very pretty girl with wavy black hair, olive skin, and ocean blue eyes. Instead of saying something almost pleasant he decided on saying something completely offensive because he could tell she wasn't twelve years old.

"I'm fifteen and I did not come from the opposite end of the world to be sassed at by someone who doesn't even know the basic stances in waterbending." She said walking up to him. She was shorter than him and when he looked down into her blue eyes he could see not only gold flecks in them but also a fiery determination. "You're not going to waste my time because I dropped everything to come up here and teach you, you will show up for every lesson on time and you're not going to leave until I dismiss you. Do you understand me?"

"Yes I understand what you're saying." He said.

"Good." She said giving his chest a hard poke.

"You're multicultural." He said quietly so only she could hear. "If a multicultural peasant from the Southern Tribe can master waterbending then surly the Avatar can."

"Yes I'm multicultural, my mother's a Southern Water Tribe Princess and my father is the Fire Lord, you can't exactly call me a peasant." She said.

"Well Princess I'll see you later." Arlyn said walking into the palace.

**To be continued...**

**Please review! (:**


	4. Chapter 4

_****_**So this chapter is rather long and I worked on it all day practically and I hope you like it and thank you all for ****reading. **

**I don't own Avatar the last airbender.**

**Chapter 4: Breakthrough **

_**Republic City…**_

Katara's blue eyes narrowed on the island that was just a ferry ride away. Air Temple Island, where Aang lived until he died. She looked over at the statue of him and knew that the answers to his death were on the island. She heard a familiar sounding roar and for a split second she thought that it was Appa but dismissed it when she remembered that Appa died with Aang. She looked up at the sky anyway and what she saw caused her to stagger backward and almost trip. A flying bison. She made the decision to swim to the island instead of waiting for the next ferry.

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

Kailee tapped her foot impatiently, he wasn't just late by a few minutes but by a few hours. She had gone through the trouble of getting the sentries to let them train without being watched, not that Arlyn knew that, and she was starting to think that may not have been such a good idea. Her first day with the Avatar as her student wasn't going at all like she hoped it would, if Hiro found out she failed before the first lesson even started he would send her back to the South Pole for sure. She wasn't one to fail at anything and she wasn't going to fail at teaching the Avatar, she would make her parents proud.

She was glad that her father had insisted on teaching her and Ryuu the art of stealth, it made sneaking around the city a lot easier, the last thing she wanted was to run into the sentries. She had an idea of where Arlyn might be, she herself having done the same countless times after the raid. The only real place to be alone in the Poles was to be outside the wall and as waterbender getting outside the city was no problem. She dived into a canal and swam toward the wall, with no effort at all she bent a hole in the wall and swam into the beach. She surfaced and glanced back, she could see the wall and no doubt the guards could see her if they turned around Arlyn wouldn't risk being seen, he wouldn't risk his stolen freedom. She dived back into the water and swam in the direction of one of the secluded beaches she, Ryuu, and Judai had explored the other day when they went penguin sledding. She prayed to the spirits that he'd be there so she didn't have to turn around and head back to the other beach.

She surfaced and an involuntary smile broke across her face, he was not only there but he was bending. Sure it wasn't bending that would help him in a fight but it was bending nonetheless. She bent the water around her into a small iceberg and heaved herself out of the water, she took a seat and watched Arlyn bend the water around him as he surfed the waves.

"Do you come here often?" Kailee asked scaring Arlyn enough so that he lost his balance and fell into the icy water. She made the iceberg a tad bit bigger and patted the spot beside her. "Come sit, I have a couple of things to say to you."

Arlyn was surprised at how calm she was, especially since she had told him that she would not tolerate tardiness. He had assumed that once he disobeyed the rules the Fire Nation Princess had set up he'd get to see if she had a fiery temper. He swam in her direction and heaved himself up onto the iceberg beside her, no other master had shown enough interest in him to come chasing after him when he didn't show up to training but she had and that was why he was intent on hearing her out.

"What do you want to talk about Princess?" he asked keeping his tone indifferent.

"You don't like the sentries." It was a statement not a question. He turned to look at her, she was staring out at the beach. "They're constantly badgering you about your Avatar duties and watching your every move. I know what that's like and so does Ryuu, except we have imperial guards looming over our shoulders as opposed to White Lotus sentries. We know what it's like to be practically imprisoned in your own home being watched and badgered about your duties to your country. We weren't allowed into the city unless we had guards with us and that made it a lot harder to enjoy our few outings. When I moved to the South Pole I got the freedom to walk about the city by myself but it was basically the same thing seeing as I couldn't leave the city unless accompanied."

"What are you getting at?" Arlyn asked watching as she drew her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"What I'm getting at is that I know what it's like to have someone watching your every move. I know that people really can't perform under pressure, which is what I said to the sentries yesterday night. I didn't go home until they agreed to let me train you without their presence and in the Academy arena as opposed to the compound arena." Kailee said turning to look at him for the first time since he sat down.

"You did that for me?" Arlyn asked.

"Mostly." Kailee said. Arlyn quirked an eyebrow at her and she smiled back at him. He liked how her face softened and how her blue eyes lit up. "I don't feel like looking at Hiro for hours a day, him and his…"

"Permanent scowl." Arlyn laughed. Kailee stared at him before joining in. "In all the time I've know that guy he hasn't once cracked a smile, I don't think the muscles in his face know how to form a smile."

"So will you come to training?" Kailee asked.

Arlyn looked at her, she had come after him and gone through the trouble of getting the sentries to back off. In short she had done more in one day than any of his other masters had done in years. She was sitting here with him on an iceberg connecting with him as a person not the Avatar. They were both soaking wet and laughing at Hiro. She was wearing nothing but a red long sleeved shirt, black pants, and black and gold boots, her parka clearly forgotten in her haste to get to him.

"I promise you I'll make the attempt to go to training and if I don't show up you know where to find me." He said with a wink. "It's more than I've given any other master, so take it or leave it."

"I guess I'll take it." She sighed. "I guess I'll tell Hiro and Toku that we had a breakthrough today."

"They'll be ecstatic, though Hiro's scowl won't twitch at all." Arlyn said standing up. "I think we should head back to the city before anyone realizes we're not where we're supposed to be."

"It's a long swim back." Kailee said.

"I'll race you." Arlyn said with a mischievous glint in his ice blue eyes. "If I get to the arena before you we move back the time training starts two hours and if you get there before me…"

"We add an hour to your training." Kailee said standing up. Arlyn could see the excitement in her eyes as well as the determination, she wasn't going to let him win. She stuck her hand out toward him. "Do we have a deal?"

"We do Princess." Arlyn said shaking her hand. "Everything goes in this race."

"Are you sure, you're going up against a master?"

"I'm the Avatar." He said with a wink. "Ready?"

"Bring it." Kailee said preparing to dive.

"Go!" The two of them did a simultaneous dive into the water.

_**Air Temple Island…**_

Katara walked aimlessly around the island, she hadn't been there in such a long time and had no idea where to begin. She scanned the island for signs of life, at the air temples there were monks who Aang taught the ways of the Air nomads to but she assumed that Air Temple Island would be uninhabited.

The first person she ran into was dressed in a typical Air Nomad outfit. It wasn't the outfit that surprised her after all she had seen plenty of people wearing them at the air temples. No what surprised her were the tattoos on the young man, airbender tattoos, and the young man's strong resemblance to Aang.

"Hello." He said.

"Who are you?" Katara asked.

"Takumi, son to Padme and Avatar Aang." He said with a small bow. "It's an honor to meet you Lady Katara. Fire Lord Zuko is expecting you."

"What?" Katara said unable to comprehend what was going on.

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

Kailee heaved herself out of the canal and sped up the current successfully pushing Arlyn back and keeping him from getting out. She was amazed by how much bending he actually knew, he knew enough to be classified as intermediate class not beginner like everyone assumed. He shot himself out of the water and started sending disks of ice at her. She thanked Agni for her father and Ty Lee's teachings, it made dodging Arlyn's ice disks a lot easier. She did a perfect backflip while pulling water out of the canal and sending it at Arlyn. He skidded back and she froze him to the ground.

"You're like something out of the circus." Arlyn said as he unfroze himself and hurled water at her, which she easily took control of and hurled it back at him.

"I know someone who was in the circus." Kailee said.

"Someone from the Imperial Guard?" Arlyn said as she flipped her way up to the roof of one of the buildings.

"Kind of." Kailee said gathering the moisture from the air and transforming the water into small ice spikes. "Think fast."

Arlyn made a very fine water whip and used it to strike down each of the ice spikes. "That fast enough for you Princess?" he asked sending the whip to where she was on top of the roof of the healing hut.

His whips caught her ankle mid-flip, with a satisfied smirk he pulled her down and into a canal. A water jet hit him square in the back knocking him onto the ground. Kailee pulled herself out of the canal just as Arlyn was picking himself off of the ground, he sent a stream of water toward her. She deflected it, froze it, and used it to slide up in front of him.

"The mark of a master waterbender is the ability to swiftly change from one state of water to another and rapidly switch techniques during combat, keeping the opponent off guard while constantly adapting to the enemy." Kailee said ice behind her.

"Got it." Arlyn said turning her wall of ice back into water and shooting it at her. Before it even got close to her Kailee changed the water into mist successfully hiding herself from him.

_**Air Temple Island…**_

Katara followed Takumi, she was still trying to process what he had said. There was no denying the fact that he was Aang's son, the airbending had confirmed all doubts she had. It was hard to process because it meant that both Aang and Zuko kept the existence of his family a secret from her, also the fact that Aang had children before she and Zuko. Takumi was, from what she could tell, a year older than Ayumu, which would make him twenty-three and Aang a fourteen-year-old father.

"Maybe I'm doing my math wrong." Katara mumbled to herself. "How old are you?"

"How old do I look?" He asked.

"Twenty-three."

"Mistakes happen." Was all he said.

"Zuko has a lot of explaining to do." She grumbled.

She nearly fainted at the sight of another boy with airbender tattoos standing beside her husband and his Uncle. Under different circumstances she'd run into Zuko's arms and kiss him feverously especially after being captured by the rebel forces and being traded to the Equalists and then escaping them. At least she could see that Zuko knew he was in for a world of pain.

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

Kailee dropped down beside her parka that she had left on the arena floor. After her trick with the mist she took off running leaving multiple obstacles in Arlyn's path as well as more mist. The door to the arena opened and she was about to rub her victory in Arlyn's face but refrained from doing so as it wasn't Arlyn that walked in.

"Where's the Avatar?" Hiro said his scowl deepening.

"He'll be here soon, probably." Kailee said feeling small under Hiro's murderous glare. She then remembered that he was breaking the terms of their agreement by being in the arena. "What are you doing here anyway, I thought we agreed that you wouldn't come here while we were training?"

"What training? The Avatar's not here." Hiro said walking up to her.

She stood up, grabbing her parka as she did, and matched his murderous glare with one of her own, "First of all he's a person not just the Avatar so you should use his name and secondly he is my pupil and I have the right to train him in whatever way I see fit which is what we did today."

Before Hiro could say anything the door to the arena opened, "You don't know how many ice columns I hit."

"Every single one." Kailee said shoving past Hiro.

"What's he doing here?" Arlyn asked.

"He need's the arena." Kailee said walking past Arlyn. "We're done using it anyway, come on I think there's a classroom reserved for me."

"I think they're going to expect us to clean up the city." Arlyn said as they walked down the hallway toward the classrooms and away from the arenas.

"We'll lets make that your next lesson." Kailee said.

_**Air Temple Island…**_

"He's older than your nephew!" Katara screeched.

"Our nephew." Zuko corrected hoping that after she knew everything he'd still have a wife. Katara gave him a look that would have him dead if looks could kill. "I promised Aang that I would keep his family safe and a secret from everybody except the Order."

"Why would he ask you to keep it from me, he and I were best friends!" Katara screamed more hurt that Aang would not trust her with his secret.

"The less people that knew the safer they'd be." Zuko said placing a comforting hand on Katara's shoulder that she slapped away.

"This whole island knew who they were!"

"About that." Zuko said scratching the back of his head. "Someone had to teach them the Air Nomad ways."

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

Kailee and Arlyn walked into the compound arena, where Ryuu and Judai were engaged in a swordfight. Ryuu hit the Judai's blade with the flat of his own. Kailee saw it, the look of fear in Judai's blue eyes and the look of triumph in Ryuu's amber colored eyes. Ryuu twisted and put all of his strength into a downward thrust. Judai's sword hit the ground with an echoing clang.

"Man I was starting to think I had you up until the end." Judai said picking up his sword and sheathing it. They bowed to each other before turning to their two-person audience. "Hey look who it is."

"My future student and my baby sister." Ryuu said with a teasing smile. "Did you guys actually do some bending or did you spend the day fighting with each other."

"Both." Kailee and Arlyn said simultaneously.

"He actually knows quite a lot of bending." Kailee said folding her hands behind her head and looking up at the darkening sky. "Something sunk in after all, even if he wasn't aware it had."

"I thought that was more like street fighting." Arlyn said.

"Whatever it was it was something." Kailee said dropping her hands to her side. "Is dinner ready?"

"Yeah Kala was just waiting for you guys to get back before serving it, thanks for taking your sweet time." Judai said grumpily. Kailee shot up faster than Arlyn thought possible for someone that wasn't an airbender. With the help of a graceful flip she had her cousin in a playful headlock. "I really wish I had taken Ty Lee's offer to train with her."

"You think with your stomach as opposed to your mouth Jude." Kailee said with a laugh. "You and your dad are one in the same."

"Let's just go eat." Judai said as Kailee shifted so that she was now in a perfect position for him to give her a piggyback ride to the dining hall.

_**Air Temple Island…**_

"Tell me everything." Katara demanded of her husband and his Uncle.

"Are you going to come home if I do?" Zuko asked cautiously.

"Just tell me Zuko." Katara sighed. Katara was upset and angry but there was no way she'd turn her back on her family, Ayumu, Ryuu, and Kailee were everything to her and despite this little fight with Zuko she loved him. "How are the kids?"

"They're keeping busy." Iroh said before Zuko could say anything.

"With what, are they together?" Katara asked.

"Yes, Ryuu, Judai, and Kai are up at the North Pole training the Avatar. Ryuu went back to the Royal Naval Academy." Zuko answered. "The kids will be coming to Republic City in a couple of weeks so the Avatar can learn earthbending from Misaki and Hikaru and so that after Ryuu teaches him firebending he can start with Takumi and Daichi."

Katara nodded, she couldn't say that she wasn't proud that her kids were going to train the Avatar because she was, it made her sad that they'd have to grow up faster than regular teenagers. Their destinies were intertwined with his, just as hers was with Aang, and she knew that they had it in them to stop a war before it even started.

**To be continued...**

**Hey you guys see that review button down there? Do me a favor and drop a review please. I would really like to hear from you guys. So see you next time. (:**


	5. Chapter 5

**So here's chapter five. I hope you like it.**

**don't own atla**

Chapter 5: The Test

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

"You're here before me, why?" Kailee asked as she walked into the arena. Arlyn sat up and glared at his waterbending master. Kailee pulled off her parka and sat down beside her pupil. "Something's up you're never up this early, I usually have to drag you out of your room."

"What do you do when the person you like is engaged to be married?" Arlyn asked.

"I don't know I haven't had much experience with that kind of stuff." Kailee said tugging at the sleeve of her dark blue long sleeved shirt. "I'm only fifteen, how much do you expect me to know about romance, engagements, and marriage?"

"You're almost of marrying age." Arlyn said bumping her shoulder.

"Not even." Kailee said bumping his shoulder back.

"Sixteen's the marrying age." He said.

"Yeah here in the Water Tribes but in the Fire Nation the marrying age is eighteen." Kailee said picking at the fabric of her loose fitting black pants. "I still have three years to be courted by the sons of Noblemen. Enough about that and lets talk about something more cheerful and by cheerful I mean exciting and long awaited."

"I don't like that excited glint in your eyes." Arlyn said standing up and extending his hand out to her, she took it and he pulled her up effortlessly. "Your definition of exciting is different than mine."

"Whatever I guess you don't what to know." Kailee said folding her hands behind her back and tiptoeing away from him. "Just show up at the compound arena Friday at sundown. Now lets begin with today's lesson."

Arlyn pulled his parka off, grabbed Kailee's parka, and tossed them both into the stands. He uncovers the pool of water that surrounds the arena by turning the ice cover into water. He and Kailee walked to the center of the arena. They bowed to each other and both of them could see the fire in the other's eyes.

"Waterbenders deal with the flow of energy; they let their defense become their offense, turning their opponents' own forces against them." Kailee said as she walked away from Arlyn. When she was a far enough distance away she quickly turned around. "Show me you can do that."

Kailee quickly waved her hand in the air and drew water from the moisture in the air around her fingers and froze it. Without hesitation she shot the frozen ice at Arlyn as if she were throwing knives, she had watched Lady Mai do it once and had since adapted it to waterbending. Thinking quick Arlyn drew water from the pool below and compressed the water so that it made an impenetrable shield. Kailee's ice claws bounced off the water shield. He used the water of his shield and used it to send a forceful blow at Kailee. She deflected the water bullet, froze it into an ice sphere and forcefully threw it back at Arlyn.

"You like throwing projectiles at me." Arlyn said bending the snow from the ground into a water whip that he used to break the ice spear.

oOo

"Parka!" Kailee said as she pulled herself out of the small hole she created in the ice and out of the pool. Arlyn smiled, proud that he had been able to win their match by pushing her into the pool and freezing the surface. He picked up her parka and hopped off of the bleachers and walked up to her. "You're a fast learner."

He took a strand of her wet black hair in his free hand, during their match he managed to get it out of the high ponytail she wore it in during training, and slowly pulled the water out of it. Kailee gave him a shy smile, it was the first time he had seen her lack confidence. He took another strand of her hair and pulled the water out of it and softly said, "You're a great teacher."

Kailee put her hands on his chest and pushed him gently, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"It usually does." Arlyn said watching as she pulled the water out of her clothes and the rest of her hair. He handed her, her parka. "Well I'll see you at dinner."

"Where are you going?" Kailee asked as she pulled her parka on.

"To ask Mika out on a date." Arlyn said.

"I thought she was engaged to be married." When Arlyn raised his eyebrows at her she sighed, "If I'm not dragging you out of your room I'm pulling you away from her, it's not hard to tell that you're attracted to her. I just put two and two together, your obvious attraction to Mika and your earlier question."

"Pretty, smart, stubborn, and funny is there more to the Fire Nation Princess that I don't know about?" Arlyn asked.

"Oh there's a lot more." Kailee said with a laugh.

"Like what?"

"Lets just say that my father taught us a lot of useful stuff." Kailee answered.

"Come on give me a little love Princess." Arlyn said.

"He taught us how to play the tsungi horn." Kailee said running away from him before he could say anything about her father's musical talent. She turned around and winked, "The rest of the stuff you'll just have to wait to see."

oOo

Arlyn watched as Ryuu practiced with his dual Dao blades, he found it interesting that both the Fire Nation prince and princess knew skills beyond bending. He had yet to see Ryuu use his bending for something more than starting the campfire they sat around in the late evenings. He had seen a lot of his sword and weapon work when he watched him and Judai practice but not once had he seen him bend like the firebending master he allegedly was. Ryuu sheathed his swords and turned toward him but his eyes were fixed behind him not at him.

"Master Toku, Master Hiro, Master Broca." He said with a bow. Arlyn turned around and saw the three White Lotus sentries, Kailee, and Judai standing behind him.

"Prince Ryuu." The sentries said bowing to him. "Is the Avatar ready for his waterbending test?"

"What?" Arlyn said.

"Master Kailee didn't tell you that your test was today?" Hiro said shooting a glare at Kailee.

"I would like a couple of minutes to prepare my student for the test." Kailee said walking toward Arlyn before they even gave her their permission to talk to him. She took his wrist and dragged him into the locker room. She sat him down on the bench and opened one of the lockers. "So this is that exciting news I had at the beginning of the week, you're test today is to see if you can pass into the advance level of training. If you pass we can leave here and go to Republic City."

"You honestly think I'm ready for this test?" Arlyn asked.

Kailee put her hands on his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes, he could see the gold flecks and determination in her ocean blue eyes. "I taught the intermediate level class at the Southern Waterbending Academy for years and I know when a student is ready to be tested for the next class and in the past couple of weeks you've progressed faster than any student I have ever taught."

"Flattery will get you nowhere Princess." Arlyn said. Kailee scoffed and turned back to the locker. "What's in there?"

"Your testing outfit." Kailee said taking it out and handing it to him. "Put it on and get ready to kick Hiro's ass." Arlyn gave her a satisfied smirk before ushering her out of the room.

_**Republic City**_

Katara took a seat in one of the plush red chairs and looked around the sitting room of their summer home. She and Ursa had spent the last couple of weeks getting the house ready for the arrival of the children and were finally finished. Ursa walked into the sitting room carrying a gold tray with Katara's favorite china atop of it, the white hand crafted porcelain cups and saucers with the gold rims and hand painted red dragons that Katara and Zuko had gotten for their wedding.

"Iroh made us tea before he left and I made some biscuits." Ursa said setting the tray down on the coffee table and taking a seat on the red plush couch. "Why did you not go with Zuko and Iroh to see Toph and Haru?"

Katara looked at her mother-in-law, she knew that Ursa would be able to see through the answer she had given Zuko and Iroh about being too tired to go out. Her reason for not going out with her husband and friends was because she really didn't want to be around her friends and pretend that she and Zuko weren't in the middle of a big argument. She had high hopes that they'd resolve their problem before Ryuu and Kailee arrived, she hadn't seen her kids on over a year and she didn't want their reunion to be marred by her and Zuko's argument.

"Zuko and I promised not to keep secrets from each other the day we were married. We made a solemn vow to tell each other everything." Katara said quietly.

"It wasn't his secret to tell." Ursa said.

"I guess what bothers me about the whole situation is that Aang had children with some woman." Katara said.

"You moved on and he had to too. Do you regret marrying my son instead of Aang?"

Katara had loved Aang, they had dated for a couple of months after the war and she had honestly thought that she was going to be married to Aang but everything changed after Zuko and Mai's break up. After Zuko and Mai broke up Zuko was a mess and Katara didn't like seeing her friend look so down and depressed. She found herself writing to him more and visiting him more often. Aang was busy restoring the air temples and Zuko was dealing with his country and the mistrust of the world. The more time Katara spent with Zuko the more she fell for him. Then she and Aang broke up, it was a mutual thing really, and she found herself spending even more time in the Fire Nation.

"No, I don't regret anything." Katara said. "I love Zuko and I wouldn't trade my life with him for anything or anyone."

_**Northern Water Tribe…**_

A smile spread across Kailee's face as she watched Arlyn encase Hiro in a ball of ice thus ending the match and passing his test. Arlyn turned around and caught sight of Kailee's eye-to-eye smile. He saw Broca and Toku nod and he knew that he had passed.

"Congratulations Arlyn you have passed your waterbending test." Broca said. He turned to Kailee. "He still needs to be trained to be considered a master but your mother can finish his training and he can begin his earthbending training with Master Toph."

"What?" Kailee said. "My mother has been missing for over a year and even if she were here its not her job to teach him, its mine."

"Did Hiro not tell you that if your mother was found before Arlyn mastered waterbending she would complete his training? Your mother has more experience in teaching and bending then you do Princess." Toku said.

"The Order said that I was to teach him waterbending, Misaki were going to teach him earthbending, and Ryuu was going to teach him firebending. I am more than qualified to finish his training, I became a master at the age of thirteen. Besides he doesn't respond to…" Kailee stopped midsentence as she realized what they had said and what it meant. She turned to Ryuu and said, "They found our mom."

"I want to finish my training with Kailee and I want to learn from Ryuu and Misaki." Arlyn said to the three members of the Order.

"Let them travel to Republic City and have the Order members there sort it all out." Hiro said as he bent himself out of the ball of ice Arlyn had trapped him in.

"Very well." Toku and Broca said.

**To be continued...**

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